Turkey and the European Union : the politics of reform and change

The central purpose of this thesis is to highlight the major policies of reform and change Turkey has undertook between 2000 and 2004 aimed to align Turkish society with European Union (EU) conditions safeguarding human rights and democracy, and prepare her for entry into the EU. The thesis applies the method of conditionality, defined as the strategy to induce candidate states to comply with human rights and democracy standards. This exercise also outlines both the successes and failures European conditionality has brought about in regards to Turkish-European relations, including the political costs and impact of EU membership for both Turkey and the EU. The impact of membership for Turkey include, a reduction of the Turkish Armed Forces influence in civil society, improved human rights and democracy standards, whilst bring about a general Europeanization of the Turkish military, and further influence of Turkey in EU decision making both at the political and economic level. For the European Union, membership would on the one hand expose the EU's sphere of influence in the greater Eurasian and Middle Eastern region; on the other had membership would bring the EU in contact with poorer regions of instability, that have many cultural differences. In a final note as accession negotiations are ready to get underway, they are expected to last ten more years before Turkey achieves the status of EU Member